Nineteenth-Century American Literature 2014-15

Law versus Nature: an Approach to the Tension between Social and

Natural Elements in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter.
Paula Mas Ferrer
9 April 2015
ABSTRACT: The Scarlet Letter provides readers the possibility of interpreting
it as a tale of contrast between two main atmospheres, the first one surrounding
law and the second one representing nature. Each world is embodied by a
combination of characters. Whereas some of the formers undertake the search
of freedom through nature, others in opposition condemn them to the
restrictions of society. Hawthorne judges the Puritan Authorities by the use of
symbolism and the knowledge of the background of America, contrasting them
with the sinner Hester Prynne, who has been isolated from the Community
together with Pearl. They both found relief in nature.

Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter may seem a simply story of an

adulterous woman. Nonetheless, if we study the piece in depth, we will find different
points of view standing out. Due to its complexity, which makes of it a great piece of
the American Romantic Literature, it has been given several interpretations. The novel
set in New England shows how the Puritan Community judges Hester Prynne by her act
of adultery. The Patriarchs decide to punish her, forcing Hester to wear a letter A in
her bosom, something imposed against nature. Thus, here we readers appreciate that
within the novel there is a tension between two atmospheres, law and nature. Arthur
Dimmesdale and the oligarchic fathers of the Community take the role of law, acting as
an oppressive society. Hester Prynne and her daughter, Pearl, find in nature certain
freedom, out of the constraints and repression of the Puritan Community.
The fist dichotomy between nature and civilisation comes from the contrasting

symbolism of the rose-bush and the prison. The fact that a prison and a cemetery are
both the first things to be built in the town reflects the attitude of the Community. The
prison represents the harsh justice of the Puritan. It is depicted as a dark and gloomy
place. This blackish colour and an austere atmosphere are used too when Hawthorne
describes first to the puritans: A throng of bearded men, in sad coloured garments and
grey steeple-crowned hats [], was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of
which was heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes (33) 1. It allows us to
perceive an obscure halo surrounding them. The prison itself is also presented as the
black flower of civilized society. In totally opposition to this black flower brought by
the civilisation, we find a rose-bush which represents the freedom of the nature. This
rose-bush encourages the sinner to find the truth in nature. It symbolises the passions
and desires and how the freedom of human nature is imprisoned by the society. It also
represents the kindness and forgiveness of the nature, in opposition to the pitiless
Puritan community.
Throughout the plot, Hawthorne criticises Puritans beliefs because they prevent
humankind from the freedom that nature provides. A patriarchal oligarchy controls
populations activity using mainly religion as a tool of repression. They believed that
they had the right of governing because of the doom that had led them to the New
World. Hence, they had power over the community and Hawthorne criticise them in
various occasions, as Baym asserts: And, having treated the Puritans in a number of
ways in his short stories and sketches, he fixed on a use for them as symbols of
authority and repression in both society and the self. (Baym, 1970: 209) So, they
condemn Hester because she has acted behind the permissions of the Community.
However, to punish her is not natural because she has committed an act of passion and
1

Quotes of the Primary Source from Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1992.

love, when the self is out of any constraint: But this had been a sin of passion, not of
principle, nor even purpose (150). Moreover, the character of Arthur Dimmesdale is a
reflection of the hypocrisy of the whole Community. Although Hester has been
condemned and the entire colony has beheld her shame, he does not confess until the
very last moment. It is because he perfectly knows that if he assumes the offence, he
will be expelled of the fathers and his career will come to an end. Besides Arthur still
believes that the suffering he maintains during those seven years will save him, as Baym
comments: His belief that he is being punished enables him to keep his guilt secret by
pacifying his sense of justice. (Baym, 1970: 227)
Another proof of the clash between civilization and nature is Pearl. She escapes
from the discomfort of society through nature. Pearl is an elf child and his natural
habitat is the forest. She is neither good nor evil. Pearl is the offspring of the sin, so she
must belong to natures world because she can not longer remain in the world of the law
and community when she is the incarnation of the sin of her mother. Many passages in
the novel describe her direct connexion with nature, and perhaps one of the most
significant moments is when she is at the other side of the brook, this former dividing
both worlds and she staying at the natures one. I have a strange fancy, observed the
sensitive minister, that this book is the boundary between two worlds, and that thou
canst never meet thy Pearl again (156). In addition, Hawthorne also uses Pearls
character to empathise her childish attitude in front of a Puritan Community full of
patterns and restrictions to follow, as Garlitz supports: At present most people consider
children amoral, and hence, for the majority of literary critics, Pearl represents the
unmorality of a child, childish irresponsibility in a moral world. (Garlitz, 1957: 690)
The character of Hester Prynn is capable of managing these two worlds. The
fathers of the Community impose over her the letter A as a token of shame, but

Hester reaches freedom as a woman even wearing it as a symbol of punishment. The

letter A leads her towards a life that not every woman is awarded: The tendency of her
fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions
where other women dared not tread(150). As Doyle points out, since she is condemned,
she has the possibility of raising her child alone, challenging the traditional patriarchal
model of family: Certainly, among its other effects, colonization created a margin of
possibility for being single and for other sexual choices among Anglo women as well as
Anglo men []. (Doyle, 2007: 265) She also challenges the community beautifully
embroidering her letter as if she was proud of wearing it, which certainly she was:
What we did, had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! (146).

Finally,

we

have analysed how this two worlds drawn by Hawthorne differ, each of them embodied
by characters and symbols. The Scarlet Letter introduces the debate between nature
versus nurture, making the readers think about the oppression performed by the Puritan
Community and the search of freedom within its possibilities by such a woman as
Hester Prynne.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baym, Nina. Passion and Authority in The Scarlet Letter.

The New England Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 2, June 1970: 209-230
Doyle, Laura. The Colonizing Force of Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter.
American Literature, Vol. 79, No. 2, June 2007: 263-269
Garlitz, Barbara. Pearl: 1850-1955. PMLA, Vol. 72, No. 4, September
1957: 689-699
FURTHER READINGS
Abel, Darrel. Hawthornes Pearl: Symbol and Character. ELH, Vol. 18,
No. 1, March 1951: 50-66